Pages

Thursday, January 17, 2008

#7 One hour painting

Oils are proving to be a bigger challenge for me than I thought they would. With each new painting, I have more question's, yet I know that the more painting I do the question's will probably answer themselves.

I thought this would be a relatively simple scene to paint, especially since I had painted it in watercolor some time ago.

Because I limit myself to painting each painting one hour only, (for at least 50 paintings) I may feel rushed and am not taking the time to make good decision's. I found that I didn't follow my own cheat sheets. Also, I didn't mix enough color for certain areas, then when I attempt to mix more, I end up making the wrong color choices. Tell me this will become easier with experience please...

The first photo is the oil painting. The second was my reference photo of a local scene and the last is a watercolor painted some time ago.

The oil is approximately 5" x 7". As you can tell I painted green trees 'cause I know trees are green. The trees were in silhouette and were just a dark image ... not green. I also find I'm concerned with my brush work. Should I be blocking in only, then covering with the more painterly thick oil paint? Now my oil paint hardly covers the canvas, when in reality I want a more thick paint in a finished painting (I realize that my time restraints are more than likely the problem there) .

10 comments:

Nancy -- I wrote a long piece that just got lost -- sigh!!! What I said was that I LOVE your oil -- the light, water, sky -- all of it! I so agree about the feeling of urgency encouraging decisions that aren't always what we'd like looking back on them -- but I truly believe that decisions will improve (quickly too) as our confidence grows ...! I love what you're doing -- and you're doing extremely well with the oils! BRAVA too for such a courageous challenge for yourself!

Thank you Lin. I'm moving pretty slow with the oil's lately. I've got a lot going on right now.

Ronell, thank you for your kind words... I'm going to keep plunking away at this, I think I'll try to paint a little larger ... Maybe I can use the small canvas and my excuse for the painting not turning out spectular *wink.

W.J.......... always nice to hear from you. Glad you came around and said such nice things about my humble oil's.

American Genius...... So glad you like the blog. I'm not as prolific a painter as most, but still I enjoy it and sharing what work I do with others. Thanks for stopping by.

Cynthia, growth is tough sometimes. Fortunately I'm enjoying the "oil" journey. I think any learning in oils will help with what ever medium I choose to use.

I am having a lot of computer problems lately, so, I'm not sure how often I'll be posting until I get some of these issues resolved. Love the computers/hate the computers. Always a challenge.

Nancy I think you are being to hard on yourself. One hour is not much time. you are doing great. Every time we paint (at least it is for me) we learn something. I love the joy of learning so enjoy your process. Sorry I have not been around much. I'll get caught up soon.

I know exactly what you're talking about and it's so reassuring to hear that I'm not alone with these struggles. I thought oils would be a cinch and boy are there layers and layers of stuff to know and strive for.... Some of it is starting to make sense to me now, but remembering all the steps (and deciding which to focus on, and which approach to take, etc.) can be so daunting! I think just painting the "miles of canvas" you'll cover will be very helpful practice.